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Ironic Interpretations: Glass Cube by Ron Gilad

Molteni&C presents Glass Cube, the new Exhibition space designed by Ron Gilad, making its debut at the company’s headquarters in Giussano.

A gallery, a showroom, a space that conveys the Molteni identity; Molteni&C commissioned Ron Gilad to design the Glass Cube, in its production unit in Giussano. It was an existing building, to be transformed. The result is a 400-sq m exhibition space, made up of void, glass and surprise installations. In the centre, a stretch of water reflects the creation of an object, with Nature taking part in the process, amid sky and clouds.

Gilad reinterprets the distinguishing themes of Molteni’s corporate identity: the materials – first and foremost wood – quality, experience, technology, industry and craftsmanship, their products and collections. He experiments with new possibilities, observes, like an entomologist at his microscope, deconstructing into fragments in order to focus on the details.

In the white, minimal space of the Glass Cube, the huge doors and infinite teak walls are monumental, allowing visitors to admire the veins of the living material. A white box, devoid of partitions, because it’s the objects contained within that create their space that influence its nature and quality. Here Ron Gilad’s ironic and provocative vision focuses on both timeless classics and contemporary items, and he reinterprets them, manipulating forms and functions.

A sofa? Yes, but plunging into the space from the ceiling, for an alternative view of reality.

A Gio Ponti chest of drawers? Yes, but sliced in half, like Damien Hirst’s dissected cow, to discover how it is made and reveal its technological core. Everything is geared to surprise and intrigue. Piroscafo, designed by Luca Meda and Aldo Rossi, becomes a ship with a warm red centre, like Carteggio’s colourful drawer, which is mirrored in its double and, free in space, becomes a sculpture-cum-totem. The storage units and shelves designed by Gilad are composed geometrically, Donald Judd-style.

The heart of the project is a Wunderkammer, where reality and fantasy chase each other and come together, via the multimedia technology of 3D mapping projections, in a site-specific sound setting, composed by Fabrizio Campanelli and performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. On the subject of Glass Cube, Ron Gilad says: “It is a great honour for me to work with Molteni&C, who gave me free rein to experiment, to explore their realm in an unorthodox way, to keep the culture of design evolving”.

Use your smile to change this world, don’t let this world change your smile. Telling stories is something I live for, especially through video. Short stories about an interesting individual, short branding films, event coverage, Q&A's for bloggers... This took me to places around the world covering high eind design houses, famous Asian artists, and parties on Miami Beach. But it also let's us explore my own country covering fascinating creatives.